PRESERVING OUR BIRTHRIGHT FOR A DOUBLE PORTION Hebrews 12:16-71, genesis 25:30-34 3 John 8, Mathew 7:21 - 27

PASTOR TONY FULANI fulaniade@yahoo.com

In the text above, the writer of Hebrews make use of the account of how Esau lost his birthright to warn Christians on the possibility of losing our position and privileges in the Kingdom of God. Birthrights are privileges and rights belonging to every first born in every family. Birthrights entitle the first born to a portion two times more than that of any other child in the family. Esau despised his birthright and lost the associated blessings. He sacrificed a great and glorious future on the altar of a present self gratifying pleasure. Every believer has a birthright. We have promises, rights and privileges which belong to us as member of Gods family. Esaus loss provides the basis for warning Christian pilgrims to resist every temptation to despise and give away our present position in Gods kingdom and our future heavenly inheritance. For proper understanding of this message, I will speak on these three points:
1. 2. 3.

The profanity of a firstborn. The promise of double portion. Perseveringly awaiting heavenly inheritance.

1.

THE PROFANITY OF A FIRST BORN.

Genesis 25:30-34 The writer of Hebrew described Esaus attitude in Genesis 25:30-34 as profane. The word profane means manifesting irreverence, disrespectful or undue familiarity towards the deity or sacred things . It also has the meaning of secular as against spiritual. Esau has no respect for spiritual things. He thought only of the material. His philosophy of life might be summed up in this phrase Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die In verse 33 he sware means he called on God to witness his contempt for Abrahamic covenant and blessings. He, under oath in the Name of the Lord, willfully relinquish the right of firstborn and whatever benefit might accrue to him through it .He called on God to bear witness to his transfer of the same to his younger brother Jacob. In his own opinion, the privilege of being a custodian of Gods covenant with Abraham is not worth more than a plate of red stew. To Esau, Abrahams conviction, relationship with God and sacrifice is meaningless, worthless and unnecessary. The stew he could see and taste was better than the promised heritage whose fulfillment lies in the distant future. Esau preferred the present enjoyment to future glory; he belittled divine appointment, honored the flesh above the Spirit and ate up his future in the present.

The attitude of Esau described in Genesis 25:30-34 is a surface appearance of a deep sited spiritual flaw. Behind it is a man who is carnal and sensual, intemperate and careless, short-sighted and faithless. If we find out that these attributes or attitude of is still present in us today, how far can we go? Earlier, in Genesis 25:27, Esau was called a man of the field Bible expositors pointed out that this means he was a wild and undisciplined man devoting himself largely to chasing after excitement and pleasure; a careless and carefree kind of person. One of the greatest principles in life is that power is only valuable when it is under control. Electricity must have switches, rivers has banks and automobile has breaks. The Bible states that He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls Proverbs 25:28. Jacob capitalized on the vagrant and carefree trait present in his brother Esau to rob him of his right and heritage. Esau was a child of Abraham but in name only. He lacked Abrahams conversion, conviction, faith and faithfulness. How many so called Christians today are like Esau. We cannot expect to be rewarded for our commitment to the Lord and for our service in the church if our attitude and choice is like that of Esau.

2.

THE PROMISE OF DOUBLE PORTION. ISAIAH 61:7

God indeed gave a promise of double blessings to those who are faithfully living for Him and serving Him. Gods best is for the children indeed who in the footsteps of Abraham are men of unconquerable faith, uncommon devotion, and unparalleled sacrifice; unalloyed affection towards God; unequivocal surrender and yieldedness. At our duty post and in churches where we serve the Lord, God expects us to labour as men and women of unconquerable faith, uncommon devotion, and unparalleled sacrifice, unalloyed affection towards God and unequivocal surrender and yieldedness. For as long as the ordinance of heaven and earth remains, for as long as the word of God remains and abides forever, I know that it shall be well with the righteous, the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. The righteous shall not be forsaken, our seed will never beg for bread. The angels of the Lord encamp around those who fear the Lord to deliver them. We are engrafted upon the palms of His hands; our walls are continually before Him. In famine we shall be fed, in famine we shall laugh. He will bless our bread and water, He will take sicknesses away from us, He will be an enemy to our enemy and an adversary to our adversary. No weapon formed against us shall prosper and all tongues that rise against us shall be condemned in judgment. Nothing will cast our young, the number of our days, He will fulfill. To our hoary heads, He will bear us, to our old age He will carry us. The Lord will give grace and glory, nothing good will He withhold from us as we walk

uprightly. The mighty God is our refuge; underneath us are the everlasting arms.

For your shame ye shall have double ; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. Isaiah 61:7 For your pains you shall have double, For your sacrifice, seed, prayer and intercession, faith, zeal, service, submission to God, punctuality to service, love of the brethren, feeding of the hungry, clothing of the naked, visitation and care of the infirmed, follow up of new converts YOU SHALL HAVE DOUBLE. The double here describes the abundant provision and privileges of the redeemed that are faithful to God and are wholeheartedly committed to His way, will, word and work. God is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love. Peter said Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?Mathew 19:27.The Lord said (they) shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life This promises of blessings and much more are for us if we remain committed to the Lord and steadfast in serving God and Worshipping Him. 1 Corinthians 15:58. We are encouraged to be patient and to endure till the end so that we will not lose the inheritance that God has reserved for us in heaven at the end of our earthly life and labor.

3.

PERSEVERINGLY AWAITING HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. Hebrews 10:36 - 38

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise Hebrews 10:36 God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Esau could have endured the time it will take to place his own pot on fire and cook. Those few minutes patience would have changed the story of his life forever. As we refer to God today as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He would have been the God of Abraham, Isaac and Esau. His name would have endured as an eternal memoriam before God. Brothers and sisters, eternity is nearer than we can ever think or imagine. Everyday of abiding in Christ brings us closer to our crown and glory. We have need of patience after we have done the will of God to obtain the promise. The will of God is to confess our sins and forsake them. The will of God is to live a godly, pure, holy and sanctified life. Dirty, immoral, loose living is inconsistent with Christian profession. The will of God is to read our Bible daily and obey the word of God. The will of God is to be in fellowship with other believers of like precious faith, goals and destination. The will of God is to love our neighbours as ourselves, to forgive and to pray for our persecutors, to wait upon God in times of needs and trouble. The will of God is to live by godly standards and principles. The will of God is to find a duty post and position of responsibility in the Lords

vineyard. The will of God is our salvation and helping others to be saved. The will of God is for us to be helpers of one anothers faith in our journey to heaven. The will of God is for us to be our brothers keeper. The will of God is for us to make ourselves available to support, care for and protect others so they can accept the love of God and the sacrifice of Christ. The will of God is for us to develop vision for Evangelism and be involved in programs that will help bring others in our neighborhood, offices and homes to salvation and help them to remain saved. We are not to constitute ourselves into stumbling blocks that will hinder others and discourage them from following Christ and serving Him. The will of God is our involvement in personal evangelism, church evangelism, group evangelism, crusades and visitation, follow up, and church planting. After doing all these we need patience so we do not loose our reward. We need patience to marry in the will of God and receive our seemingly delayed promotion without compromising. We need patience for God to answer our prayers for the fund to equip our houses, to buy our cars, to build our houses without resulting to crime, taking or giving bribes and cutting corners like those who did not know God. We need patience for God to answer our prayers for wisdom and attainment of academic excellence without resulting to cheating, lying or examination malpractices. We need patience with other brethren in fellowship who seem to be stepping on our toes all the

time. God is working on them and on us too to bring us to perfection. W e need patience to possess our possession. Farmers who sow have to wait for some time before harvest. Brothers and sisters, all we need to be happy in time and eternity is a little more patience, a little more faith, a little more sacrifice, a little more prayer, a little more preaching, a little more singing in the choir, a little more effort at our duty post in the intercessory ministry, teaching Sunday school, among the youth, among the children and in the serving with others in the ushers stand. We need a little more focus, obedience and consecration; just a little more. A little more effort and we will get to our destination and to the place of reward. As we witness mass apostasy, backsliding, religious effeminacy and bigotry all around us in these end times, we need to persevere in faith and grace just a little more so that the wind of change and spiritual lethargy blowing around will not sweep us away. The Lord wanted us to know that in a little while, He that will come will come. He will not tarry. The Lord wanted us to know that all that we need is a little more devotion and consecration, a little more determination to hold on to our profession of faith without wavering, a little more time and Christ will appear in the sky or we will go to our reward. Heaven is real and there is great inheritance waiting for us in heaven. Hell is also real and waiting for those who rejected Gods love and Christs sacrifice. Hell is the

ultimate destination of those who were once in faith but turned away from Christ because of a plate of red stew, a bowl of worldly pleasure and lusts for evil things. We must do all that is possible and within our reach and ability to shun hell and to gain heaven. Great inheritance awaits us if we do not lose our salvation experience, commitment to holy living, commission into divine service, zeal for evangelism, promotion of brotherly love and kindness; and fruitfulness in the vineyard of our Lord where he placed us. The steps that brought Esau into irredeemable loss as described earlier are well elucidated in the scriptures. They include unbelieving choice, uncrucified affection, uncontrolled lust, ungoverned appetite, unconquered will, ungodly thoughts, unedifying words, unruly passions, unsanctified mood and ungrateful heart. We must expunge these from our lives. God has reserved great inheritance for us in heaven if we do not impatiently exchange them for a plate of sinful pleasure. This is the time to examine ourselves and our lives. This is the time to examine our disposition and attitude towards holy institutions and ordinances. We must commit ourselves to live with eternity in view. The second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is nearer than we can ever imagine; we must be prepared. We must get ready and we must help others to get ready. This is the summary of our commission and responsibility as Christians and gospel workers in the vineyard of the Lord. Thanks for taking time to read

this piece. May God bless you all abundantly and reward your labour in time and in eternity. Your Servant. By His Grace

Fulani A.A.